Cheerleading Squad for Taiwan captain Yang Hui-ju (楊蕙如) was refused entry to China at the Beijing airport yesterday and forced to return to Taiwan.
Yang arrived at Beijing International Airport at 3:20pm. Instead of going through immigration and customs, however, she was “escorted somewhere for further inquiries,” Yang told news channel ETTV by cellphone yesterday.
Yang, who campaigned for former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) during the presidential race, told ETTV that she was denied entry to China and put immediately on a return flight to Taiwan.
Commenting later during her transit in Hong Kong, Yang told TVBS that Beijing airport police had examined her Taiwan compatriot entry permit and muttered: “There’s a problem.”
The police then took Yang and her companion to a questioning room and looked through her bags, she said.
‘WHY CHEER?’
Yang said the airport police asked her why she was visiting China, to which she responded: “I’ve come to cheer for Taiwan.”
The police asked Yang how many matches she would attend to cheer for Taiwan and she replied “maybe seven or eight games.”
“Why cheer at so many games?” the police responded, Yang said.
After an hour of questioning, Yang said the airport police said “higher-ups” had “ordered” that she and her friend be sent back immediately. They were put on a flight to Hong Kong.
Yang organized the cheerleading squad years ago to support Taiwanese athletes at international competitions. Last year the squad traveled to New York to cheer for New York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民).
NO NATIONAL SYMBOLS
The cheerleader squad normally dons yellow uniforms bearing the Taiwanese flag and the English slogan: “Taiwan Woo!”
They also normally wave Taiwanese flags as part of their routine.
But the cheerleading squad had said it would drop the national symbols to cheer for the nation’s athletes in Beijing.
“I won’t bring any flags — including the national flag — and will not bring banners that are too eye-catching either,” Yang told a news conference last week in Taipei. “Chinese laws are unpredictable, no one knows what would happen if you were to break the rules of the Games.”
In related news, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday visited the Athletes’ Village in Beijing to cheer the nation’s delegation and present the members with NT$200,000 in spending money.
Wu was accompanied by KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Legislative Yuan Deputy Speaker Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) and other top officials.
Speaking about the baseball team’s first game of the Olympics — scheduled for Wednesday against the Netherlands — Wu Poh-hsiung said China-based Taiwanese businessmen had bought most of the tickets, ensuring a “Taiwanese cheerleading squad.”
If you factor in the support of Chinese spectators for Taiwan’s team, it will virtually have a “home field advantage,” he said.
When approached for comment on Wu Poh-hsiung’s visit to the Olympic Games, DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in Taipei yesterday that as the leader of Taiwan’s governing party, Wu Poh-hsiung should exercise caution, lest he give the impression that “Taiwan is part of China.”
Tsai said Wu’s remark about a “home field advantage” was regrettable and disappointing. Such a remark undermines the nation’s status as a sovereign state, she said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
UNKNOWN TRAJECTORY: The storm could move in four possible directions, with the fourth option considered the most threatening to Taiwan, meteorologist Lin De-en said A soon-to-be-formed tropical storm east of the Philippines could begin affecting Taiwan on Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm, to be named Fung-wong (鳳凰), is forecast to approach Taiwan on Tuesday next week and could begin affecting the weather in Taiwan on Wednesday, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) said, adding that its impact might be amplified by the combined effect with the northeast monsoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the system’s center was 2,800km southeast of Oluanbi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph. Meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) on Facebook yesterday wrote that the would-be storm is surrounded by
RSS